Last blast: WTCC hits the streets of Macau

2010. november 17. 22:21 | még nem szólt hozzá senki.  szerző: Viktor Adorján

It is (not) all over (yet): WTCC prepares for the last round of the 2010 season on the historic streets of the city. The Guia Circuit contains the fastest and the slowest turn of the season and expected to bring insane racing for the remaining undecided slots in the classification. Don’t miss it.

“I am not happy at all to note that the season ends at this point,” stated Norbert Michelisz following the 2010 Race of Japan that was held two weeks ago in Japan. Then he didn’t know that he will be given the third place following the exclusion of the two works BMWs but the Hungarian driver was sure that they made progress.

Towards the end of the season Michelisz and his race engineer Arnau Niubó was able to extract reserved performance out of the package formed by Michelisz and the SEAT Leon TDI and - apart from Valencia – the recent races were considered as improvements in terms of the pace.

Therefore it is not a surprise that Norbert Michelisz regrets that he is likely to drive the car for the last time this year as the 2010 WTCC season is coming to its end in Macau, on the historic streets of the Guia Circuit where the 57th annual grand prix will be held this weekend which is the 6th event since the WTCC was formed back in 2005.

A lottery

Macau is a unique kind of venue, it is hard to find any other circuit on the planet that could be compared to the characteristics of the track. When it comes the prestige, it is almost the Monaco of the WTCC season but on a certain sections it is a lot faster than the streets of the Principality.

The Guia Circuit features the slowest and the fastest corners of the entire season which makes the task of figuring out the setups and the act of driving very challenging for both the engineers and the drivers. As a result of this, Norbert Michelisz says nothing for granted ahead the weekend.

“Macau is a lottery,” said Michelisz. - “What is for sure is the fact that the lack of track knowledge will be the biggest disadvantage there and I will line up for the weekend with this in my mind. I will try to spend as much time as possible on the circuit.”

Certain parts of the circuits are unique and not comparable to any other locations of the world including several tight and twisty turns with the very high likelihood of crashes, remaining cars beside the walls and the need of safety car periods over the races.

Overtaking is virtually impossible on the majority of the track but the extremely quick first sector might offer a chance with the infamous right turn at the end of the long straight. It will be certainly needed to pass in order to move forward, especially since SEAT has never won in Macau but this is something that doesn’t concern Michelisz at all.

“True, the Chevy have been very successful on this track and generally on the street circuits but I’ve learn that I can’t build on the results from the previous years. I made a mistake ahead Brno by prospering a BMW triumph and they were not as competitive as I had expected at all.”

Only slightly similar to Marrakech

This year’s WTCC season features two street races, the first one was held in Marrakech back in April. Michelisz was highly competitive there and topped the timesheet at the end of the Q1 but a crash dropped him back into the midfield where he couldn’t really get out for the rest of the weekend.

Despite both circuits are built on streets, the common attributes are the walls and fences as the layouts are a lot different here and there but the pace in Marrakech made Michelisz is slightly optimistic ahead the ultimate weekend in Macau. He expects himself to be in the top 10 and possibly in the top 6.

When all is said and done

Action has been ongoing since the field arrived to Japan following a long break that was placed to allow the equipment to be shipped to the Far-East. A very rainy Japanese round saw Norbert Michelisz taking his best result so far by finishing 5th on Race 1 to be advanced to 3rd following the exclusion of the two works BMWs.

The decision also means that Yvan Muller is heading to Macau as a world champion of the 2010 season but the season finale won’t be without any bid for the drivers. The Rookie Challenge trophy is still up for grabs and a spectacular battle is expected to arise between Norbert Michelisz and Michel Nykjaer for the crown while Michelisz’s 10th place in the overall is also in need of defence over the course of the weekend.

As a result of the exclusion of the works BMWs for carrying sequential gearboxes, the success ballasts are also slightly altered for the weekend: all frontrunner marques, including the latest models of BMW, SEAT and Chevrolet will carry the maximum, 40 kilos of compensation weights to balance the performance differences.

An almost local hero to return

A well-known name, none other than André Couto is expected to be back in the WTCC this weekend behind the wheel of a SEAT Leon TDI who will replace Jordi Gené in the SR-Sport team. The Portuguese driver has driven in many single seater and GT series so far including various F3 and F3000 championships, Formula Nippon, Japanese GT500 and two years ago competed in the WTCC as well with a Honda Accord by N.Technology.

Aside Couto, several local drivers will be back or make their debut in the field that will hit the track on Thursday for the first time. The unique schedule is necessary in order to make room for the very rich programme the weekend will offer including the annual F3 race and the motorcycle battle as well.

Testing will be held on Thursday to be followed by two 30 minutes-long test sessions and the Qualification on Friday. Saturday will be free for the WTCC field before the final act of the season, the Races of Macau.

Photos by SEAT Sport

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